2018-19 Wcha Weekly Release 20 Week Fifteen (Games of Jan
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2018-19 WCHA WEEKLY RELEASE 20 WEEK FIFTEEN (GAMES OF JAN. 11-12, 2019) / wcha.com YEARS CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE @wcha_whockey @wcha_whockey /WCHAWomensHockey FloHockey.tv CONTACT: TODD BELL / O: 952-681-7668 / C: 972-825-6686 / [email protected] WESTERN COLLEGIATE OPENING FACEOFF HOCKEY ASSOCIATION • Ohio State Up to No. 7, UW, UM Hold Down Top Two Spots Nationally: Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 7 while • FOUNDED 1999 • Wisconsin and Minnesota remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the latest USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey 2950 Metro Drive, Suite 102 Magazine polls. Minnesota Duluth also received votes in both polls this week. Bloomington, MN 55425 • Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio State are also among the top-five in the most-recent PairWise Rankings. The 952-681-7947 Badgers are No. 1, the Gophers are No. 3 and the Buckeyes are No. 5. • Two From the WCHA Finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award: A pair of Western Collegiate Hockey Association MEMBER TEAMS women's league players are nominees for the 2019 Hockey Humanitarian Award. Bemidji State University • Wisconsin's Annie Pankowski and Ohio State's Jacyn Reeves are among the 17 NCAA men's and women's University of Minnesota players in contention for the honor, which recognizes the male or female hockey student-athlete who makes University of Minnesota Duluth significant contributions to his or her team and community through leadership in volunteerism. Minnesota State University • WCHA Play Resumes: This weekend marks the restart of WCHA league play following the Christmas break and the The Ohio State University beginning of the sprint to the finish of the regular season that sees the league standings currently broken into a pair of St. Cloud State University three-team groups. University of Wisconsin • The circuit's top three teams - Minnesota (28 points), Wisconsin (27) and Ohio State (24) are separated by just four points in the race for the regular season title while Minnesota Duluth (16), Bemidji State (13) and Minnesota 16 National Championships State (12) are also only four points apart in the quest to secure the final first round home playoff slot. 98 All-Americans • Winning Hockey: Eighteen NCAA Division I programs have winning percentages of .500 or better, with four of those 100+ Olympians and hailing from the WCHA. National Team Members • Wisconsin leads the country with 19 victories and tops D-I with a .950 winning percentage (19-1-0). Minnesota is second at .886 (19-2-1), Ohio State is eighth (.700, 14-6-0) while Minnesota State checks in with a .500 winning percentage (8-8-4). UPCOMING IN THE WCHA • The Gophers (12-straight victories) and Badgers (11-straight) have the nation's longest active winning streaks, and the second- and third-longest unbeaten runs, respectively (Princeton is 12-0-4 in its last 16 games). FRIDAY, JAN. 11 (RV/RV) Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State, BY THE NUMBERS 3:07pm CT^! • 38: NCAA-best non-conference wins for the WCHA this season, which also has the country's best out-of-conference (1/1) Wisconsin at (7/7)Ohio State, 6:07pm ET^ winning percentage at .750 (38-12-2). (2/2) Minnesota at Minnesota State, 7:07 pm CT^ • 35: First-period goals scored by Wisconsin this season. The Badgers hold a 35-8 goals scored advantage in the opening frame in 2018-19. SATURDAY, JAN. 12 • 12: Games in a row won by Minnesota. The Gophers enter the weekend having outscored their opponents, 63-20, over (RV/RV) Minnesota Duluth at Bemidji State, that span and are averaging 5.25 gpg and allowing just 1.67 gpg during the current run. 1:07pm CT^! • 11: Consecutive games won by Wisconsin entering the weekend. UW has outscored its 12 opponents, 47-10, and (1/1) Wisconsin at (7/7)Ohio State, 3:07pm ET^ recorded three shutouts in that span. (2/2) Minnesota at Minnesota State, 3:07 pm CT^ • 6: Home wins in a row for Bemidji State, a new school record. The Beavers are 6-0-1 in their last seven home contests dating to Oct. 27. (NC)/(EXH) denotes non-conference or exhibition game; WCHA team in bold THE WEEK AHEAD # denotes FloHockey.tv • Top-10 Matchup: No. 1 Wisconsin will visit No. 7 Ohio State for a two-game WCHA set at the OSU Ice Rink, Jan. 11-12. ^ denotes FloHockey.tv and BTN Plus Friday's contest will get underway at 6:07 p.m. ET with Saturday's game slated for a 3:07 p.m. ET start. ! denotes Minnesota Cup, Powered by GELSTX • Wisconsin leads the all-time series with the Buckeyes, 65-12-7 and holds a 29-6-3 advantage in Columbus. • Ohio State swept last year's series at the OSU Ice Rink by scores of 1-0 and 3-1 on Feb. 2-3, 2018. • No. 2 Minnesota visits Minnesota State: The second-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers travel to Mankato to meet Minnesota State. Friday's game will get underway at 7:07 p.m. CT with Saturday's contest set for 3:07 p.m. CT. • This weekend's games will be the 91st and 92nd between the two programs. Minnesota leads the all-time series, 84-3-3 and has won the last 39 meetings between the schools. • Bemidji State hosts Minnesota Duluth: Fresh off their two-game non-conference sweep of ECAC foe Union College, Bemidji State welcomes Minnesota Duluth to the Sanford Center this weekend for a pair of afternoon contests at 3:07 p.m. CT on Friday and 1:07 p.m. CT on Saturday. 20 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE • The Bulldogs won the two most-recent meetings between the two schools earlier this season, sweeping a two- game set in Duluth on Oct. 19-20 by scores of 6-1 and 2-0. The Women's League of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is celebrating its 2018-19 WCHA STANDINGS 20th Anniversary season in 2018-19, honoring Conference Overall 20 Years of Excellence as the nation's premier Rk (Natl Rank) Team Pts GP W L T SW % GF GA GP W L T % GF GA women's college hockey conference. 1 (2/2) Minnesota 28 12 9 2 1 0 .792 43 23 22 19 2 1 .886 96 36 Home to a record 16 national championships, 2 (1/1) Wisconsin 27 10 9 1 0 0 .900 34 9 20 19 1 0 .950 81 23 seven Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award 3 (7/7) Ohio State 24 12 8 4 0 0 .667 27 21 20 14 6 0 .700 58 40 winners, numerous Olympic and national team 4 (RV/RV) Minnesota Duluth 16 12 4 6 2 2 .417 25 29 18 7 9 2 .444 42 47 heroes, and countless young women inspired, 5 Bemidji State 13 12 4 7 1 0 .375 17 31 21 7 13 1 .357 37 58 the WCHA is proud to honor yesterday's 6 Minnesota State 12 12 3 7 2 1 .333 16 20 20 8 8 4 .500 35 33 heroes, today's teammates and tomorrow's legends. We are Leaders and Champions. We 7 St. Cloud State 6 14 2 12 0 0 .143 22 51 23 7 16 2 .348 50 75 are the WCHA. (shootout win = 1 additional point; rankings listed by USCHO.com fi rst, followed by USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine) HOME OF A RECORD 16 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 •2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2015 • 2016 #WEAREWCHA #LEADERSANDCHAMPIONS #20YEARSOFEXCELLENCE THE WEEK IN REVIEW - WEEK 14: JAN. 4-6, 2019 #WEAREWCHA at Bemidji State 3, Union 0 Championship Game: No. 2 Minnesota 5, St. Cloud State 1 at Bemidji State 6, Union 2 • The second-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers got a pair of goals (Jan.4-5 at Sanford Center; Bemidji, Minn.) each from Grace Zumwinkle and Taylor Heise and 22 saves from • Bemidji State swept a home non-conference series from Union goalie Sydney Scobee to secure a 5-1 win over St. Cloud State in the College of the ECAC to the 2019 portion of its schedule. championship game of the inaugural Minnesota Cup at Ridder Arena • The Beavers scored even strength, short-handed and on an empty on Jan. 6. net in a 3-0 blanking of the Dutchwomen in the series opener. • Taylor Wente also picked up a goal for the Gophers, who outshot the Lauren Bench stopped all 22 shots she faced in the victory. Huskies, 50-23 in the contest. Wente started the scoring Minnesota • Bemidji State erased an early 1-0 defi cit with four-straight fi rst with a goal at 4:16 of the opening period. Heise added her fi rst of the period goals en route to a 6-2 win in game two of the series. day at 5:51 and Zumwinkle potted her initial goal on the power play at • Eleven Beavers recorded a point in the game with Clair DeGeorge 8:36 in the second period. fi nding the back of the net twice. • Abby Thiessen found the back of the net for St. Cloud’s lone goal at • Kerigan Dowhy stopped 18-of-22 Union shots to pick up her fourth 9:32 in the second but that was as close as the Huskies would get. win of the season. Zumwinkle (48 seconds) and Heise (18:21) rounded out the scoring for Minnesota in the third period. 2019 Minnesota Cup (Jan.